Speak with plants.

[Ichneumon]

Would this be possible by core rules?

1. Druid goes into the forest. Uses Speak with Plants to tell a certain tree a secret. He marks the tree so someone else can find it.

2. Later another Druid comes into the forest, searches for the marked tree and uses Speak with Plants to ask for the secret.

Can you indeed use the spell as a way to hide information from others? Leaving these secret notes for other people?

If so, I can already see this used in a campaign by a secret organisation.

EDIT: Another question, What would the DC be to persuade the tree only to tell the secret to someone who says a certain password? In fact, how would talking to an object (they have no intelligence) actually work? Any advice?

[Arbitrarity]

Don't see why not, assuming the tree has a memory. Since it can answer questions, that makes sense, but the entire thing is rather subjective.

[Krade]

I would say that Rule-0 is what you need to be thinking of right now. I'm assuming that you are the DM in this particular venture. If your players object and say something like "Speak with Plants doesn't work that way!" you can always fall back on Rule-0 and say it was a homebrew spell of some kind.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

It seems to be within the bounds of the spell description, but the messages probably have to be fairly simple.

[Fixer]

Speak with Plants
Divination
Level: Brd 4, Drd 3, Rgr 2
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 min./level
You can comprehend and communicate with plants, including both normal plants and plant creatures. You are able to ask questions of and receive answers from plants. A regular plant’s sense of its surroundings is limited, so it won’t be able to give (or recognize) detailed descriptions of creatures or answer questions about events outside its immediate vicinity.
The spell doesn’t make plant creatures any more friendly or cooperative than normal. Furthermore, wary and cunning plant creatures are likely to be terse and evasive, while the more stupid ones may make inane comments. If a plant creature is friendly toward you, it may do some favor or service for you.

Unless the tree is a 'creature', it cannot be used as you describe.

The spell says specifically, "ask questions of and receive answers from plants." It does not say you can communicate anything TO the plant using the spell. It is for acquiring information, not disseminating it.

Now, what a druid CAN do with this spell is to leave a small written message somewhere in its branches on a prearranged tree in the forest. The location of the message on the tree is random and only by asking the tree can you find it (Search DC 40+ or something without the tree's help). This way druids can leave messages in relative calm and use the speak with plants to find it specifically.

Although, if *I* was the druid, I'd leave it with some animals that live in/on the tree and leave messages with them. They are far more intelligent than a basic tree and can remember more complicated things. (Not too complicated, but more complicated than a tree.)

[Ditto]

I don't see why the question-asking is a problem. "Hey, Tree, what did Mr. Gornak say to you yesterday?" If you want to get nitpicky, "say while he was standing in front of you" to avoid this interaction-communication 'issue'

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

Unless the tree is a 'creature', it cannot be used as you describe.

The spell says specifically, "ask questions of and receive answers from plants." It does not say you can communicate anything TO the plant using the spell. It is for acquiring information, not disseminating it.

If the tree is able to understand what is being said to it under the influence of this spell and able to answer questions that require some form of memory it is not such a far fetched idea, again assuming that the messages are very simple.

Th spell description is not clear enough for us to know exactly where the limits are.

[Arbitrarity]

You can comprehend and communicate with plants, including both normal plants and plant creatures.

You are able to ask questions of and receive answers from plants.

So, you can communicate (i.e. dialogue, i.e. talk) with the plant. People can ask questions of the plant. So, you can talk to the plant, and people can ask the plant questions.

Given that a regular plant can sense its surroundings, clearly, all plants in D&D are sentient, with senses, at least while under the influence of this spell. Since they can recall things (though not givve detailed descriptions of them), they have memories.

So, I can communicate with something which has a memory, and people can ask questions of it.

[Fixer]

Trees are not sentient by means of this spell. They are objects that the caster can understand due to the effects of the spell. This is a divination effect on the caster, not the object.

The caster is able to communicate his/her desires to the tree, which will respond only because the caster can understand it through the spell. The tree is no more intelligent during the spell duration than before it. It is simply able to communicate what it does know clearly to the caster.

Now, I suppose it could be asked, "What did Howard say yesterday when he stood here?" and it would respond. The question then becomes the degree of accuracy of its memory. I suppose it can answer basic questions but any messages left in this manner would have to be simple or short.

[Lord Lorac Silvanos]

I suppose it can answer basic questions but any messages left in this manner would have to be simple or short.

I am glad that we agree on the conclusion, although I would say simple AND short.

[lukelightning]

Sure, why not? But I would say that a regular tree isn't smart enough to identify individuals, so that any person who casts speak with plants on the tree could find out the secret.

Plus some trees are notorious gossips. They are always interested in dirt.

[Fixer]

Ok, that's a funny end. Cool point to you, Luke. I hope the OP got his answer.

steps out of thread

[Ichneumon]

Thank you so much for all your answers. ( Yes that was funny, lukelightning)

I think I will indeed allow the spell to be used like that (at least by my NPCs). I already have way to many Plot Hooks involving finding the right tree to find the message from the druids. This might be the way how the secret cult passes on certain data to other members.

"To know the location of next weeks meeting, ask the oak."

[lukelightning]

This reminds me of why it's so hard to learn about nature from druids.

Me: "What's this tree called?"
Druid: "Steve."